A recent Facebook poll has shown that people in the UK prefer their static caravan or holiday home to be within an hour or so drive – perhaps the saying should be “a home not too far away from home”?

Of the people who took part in our poll, almost 50% owned a holiday home which was between 50 and 100 miles away, which could easily be driven to in a few hours, and 24% of people travelled 50 miles or less, meaning their holiday home was literally on the doorstep.

Chris Nettleton, Director at Leisuredays, had this to say about the results,

“The UK is a fantastic place to own a holiday home as you don’t have to travel far to reach the coast or an area of beautiful countryside, within just a short drive you can be sat outside your holiday home with a cup of tea or a glass of wine, with none of the stress of airports! This poll just proves this fact further, and we weren’t surprised to see that most people prefer their holiday home to be easily accessible with a short drive, meaning they get the most out of their investment”

Looking at the statistics as a whole, it’s interesting to see that 73% of people travelled less than 100 miles, further cementing the fact that most people choose a holiday home within easy driving distance.

To get involved with future polls, and to keep up to date with all the latest news and reviews we post on here, make sure you ‘like’ Leisuredays on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Leisuredays

Pictured: “Leisuredays’ Neil Menzies (right) with awards presenter and comedian Rob Deering”

Leisuredays (and sister brand Caravan Guard) have been “highly commended” at the 2011 UK Broker Awards, which took place at a glitzy event in London on Friday 9th September.

We were named finalists in the “Customer Service Provider of The Year” category, a category we won in 2008 and 2010, and highly commended in the “Marketing Campaign of the Year” category.

We were up against stiff competition from some of the biggest insurance brokers in the country, so to gain recognition is a massive achievement and testament to our ongoing commitment to further improve the service offered to our customers.

Our award entry was largely based around a new and improved personal review service which ensures customers get the best possible deal at renewal, with the benefit of speaking directly to one of our highly trained insurance advisers.

Sally Wilby, Director at Leisuredays, had this to say about being finalists,

“To be a finalist for the Customer Service Award was great as we won it last year and back in 2008. It is a massive achievement as each year we have to prove what we’ve done to further improve our already top notch customer service. We really stay on our toes when it comes to providing the best possible service.”

The weather may have been dreary with rain and strong winds and the economic outlook poor but every company we spoke to at the Caravan Extravaganza show in Cottingham, and the show at the adjacent golf club was very upbeat about the future whilst accepting that for the next 12 months at least, things are going to be pretty tough.

Overall attendance during the public weekend was about the same as 2010, that is around 14,000 on the Saturday and 10,500 on the Sunday.

Several stand-holders we spoke to commented that they felt it had kept away the casual visitors whilst the serious ones were not put off. As a result, all the stands we talked to said that although they had reduced their targets compared with last year they had either met them or were at least satisfied with their results.

All the main static caravan and holiday lodge manufacturers had new models for 2012 proving that they had decided that sitting back and waiting for the recession to end wasn’t an option. How many of the new models will sell however, only time will tell. Among the new models which we will be reviewing over the next 12 months were Prestige’s Matrix (featured here) and Chichester twin units. We were particularly impressed by the bathroom in the Matrix and by the master bedroom and en suite in the Chichester.

Since it launched its first static caravans less than 10 years ago, the Swift group has continued to develop a great range of homes at prices well below those you would pay for many new cars. In a word, they are caravans aimed at the lower end of the mid-range market.

One of the best known manufacturers Willerby, launched a new static designed for the disabled caravanner. Named the Rio it is a single unit measuring 35ft x 12ft featuring wide passageways and lowered work surfaces, appliances etc. It also has an excellent washroom with disabled facilities.  Another new model from the company was the Isis which will be available in three versions: a 33ft x 12ft and 35ft x 12 ft both two bedrooms – plus a pull out sofa bed in the lounge – and a 38ft x 12ft three bedroom which will also has the sofa bed in the lounge. But for our money, the Willerby piece de resistance was the company’s new Oyster Bay with its huge Belling gas cooker featuring a hob with eight burners and two ovens.

Carnaby Caravans had a centre lounge Melrose on display in which the two bedrooms are at either end of the home, whilst the 42ft x 13ft two bedroom Pemberton Brompton sported a kitchen/diner separated from the lounge by twin sliding doors. ABI offered its bargain static caravan, the Tebay Platinum two bedroom, in contrast to Wessex Homes whose Hideaway with its huge wet room would set you back an arm and a leg. Although not in the same price bracket as the Hideaway, the Pathfinder Forest Lodge certainly came with a host of features and appliances as standard, including a very nice breakfast bar and two stools, a dishwasher and a washing machine

Homeseeker had its Bronze standard Olympia and its gold standard Sofia homes on display. Both are two bedroom models, the Olympia sporting an island unit with a four burner hob, three full width drawers and a 10 bottle wine rack in its kitchen, whilst the Sofia had an en suite off the main bedroom to die for.

Time didn’t allow us to spend long at the other show at the golf club but what we couldn’t help noticing was the large increase in the number of homes on display. Over the years, the golf club show has basically been an overflow for the Lawns which has restricted space. This year, we came to the conclusion that the golf club was becoming a show in its own right with an increasing number of manufacturers including Omar – who had its 40ft x 14ft two bedroom Southwold on view – Delta, Stellar, Retreat, Atlas, and Victory to name just some. For the first time too, there were pods on display.

As we said at the beginning, the whole industry knows that there is a tough year ahead but from what we saw at the two shows, coupled with the comments of everyone we spoke to, we truly believe that it will be well placed to weather whatever the faltering economy throws at it.

Leisuredays, and our sister company Caravan Guard, have been added to the “Hall of Fame”  on the consumer website SAYNOTO0870.com, thanks to our pledge to make customer calls as cheap as possible.

SAYNOTO0870 list alternative phone numbers for companies who provide premium rate numbers such as 0870, and also commend companies such as Caravan Guard and Leisuredays who provide customer friendly options such as 0800, which are free to call from landlines, and regional telephone numbers (e.g. 01422) which are cheaper to call from mobiles.

Dave Lindsay, one of the websites Global Moderators, added us to the hall of fame and sent us the following message

“May I commend your company for taking this customer-friendly approach.”

We are committed to making your calls to us as cheap as possible. Which is why wherever possible we provide an 0800 number which is free to call from a UK landline, and a regional 01422 number which is cheaper to call from mobiles and often included in your phone package’s “inclusive minutes” – it’s just one way we’ve further improved our Award Winning service.

You can see the ”Hall of Fame” listing on SAYNOTO0870 here.

A fundraising evening held during this year’s Lawns (Caravan) Trade Show in Cottingham has raised £650 for the National Caravan Council (NCC) Benevolent Fund, which looks after current or past members of the caravan industry who have fallen on hard times.

The event, which was organised and hosted by us, raised money for the NCC Benevolent Fund through donations from holiday home park operators, dealers and suppliers in the industry who attended the event. An additional donation from Leisuredays brought the total money raised to an impressive £650.

Ross Gardiner, Leisuredays Business Development Executive pictured above left with Mark Cheater of the NCC, organised the event,

 “We are extremely happy to have raised such a substantial sum for the benevolent fund over the course of one evening and would like to thank all those who contributed.”

The Benevolent Fund was first created in 1976 by NCC members to support people within the caravan industry, including their dependants. Over the years, the NCC Benevolent Fund has been able to help many ex industry employees who have either fallen on hard times due to personal issues, or needed a little help to recover from illness.

Mark Cheater of Phantom Tracking Systems is an active member of the caravan industry and a spokesperson for the NCC Benevolent Fund, he explains the charity’s importance,

 “The NCC Benevolent fund also offers families with disadvantaged and seriously ill children the opportunity to have a change of scenery and hopefully a great time at caravan parks in the UK. We draw on the support of those within the industry and are very thankful of it.”